In woman's brassieres it is the common practice to provide a tubular pocket or sheath, for example below a brassiere cup, in which a support wire, frequently referred to as an “underwire” is received to assist in maintaining the shape of the cup. The conventional bra sheath is comprised of fabric. The fabric is woven from weft and warp threads. Typically, the fabric is loosely woven and may easily be penetrated by the metal support wire in the bra sheath leading to injury of the user. The tendency of the support wire to pierce through the fabric of the bra sheath also complicates laundering of the brassiere. To avoid this problem conventional bra sheaths are comprised of multiple fabric layers, which not only consumes more fabric, but also makes the bra sheath harder and very uncomfortable to the wearer.
There have been attempts to improve the structure of brassieres. One such attempt is disclosed in Chinese patent of publication number CN 2332197 Y (Application Number: ZL 98 2 03044.4) entitled: Massage Bra By Human Natural Force and published on Aug. 11, 1999. This Chinese patent discloses a brassiere having a liquid bag in the inner surface of a bra-cup and a massage cloth containing unsmoothed type small lugs in the outer surface of the liquid bag. The liquid bag is filled with different proportions of liquids each having a different specific gravity. When the user moves the different liquids in the liquid bag collide, mix and separate to cause small vibrations. The Chinese patent claims that the disclosed construction can produce a beneficial vibration massage effect for the user compared to an ordinary brassiere. However, the above structure increases brassiere weight and if the brassiere with this structure is used with steel support wires there may be the danger of liquid leakage from the steel wire end head piercing the liquid bag.
Chinese patent of publication number CN 2240871 Y (Application Number: ZL 95 2 12886.1) entitled Supported Health Bra and published on Nov. 27, 1996 discloses a health bra improving bra sheath strip. This disclosure illustrates placing a protruding platform on the lined brassiere sheath strip in the arc of under part of existing bra and in inner side keeping in touch with the chest. The Chinese patent claims that this arrangement provides a healthy massage to guarantee that lymph liquid circulates normally. However the brassiere sheath strip is still a loosely woven textile layer that is easily pierced by the support wire, resulting in injuring the user, so it is not ideal to use yet. There remains a need for a bra sheath that will lessen or eliminate the problem of the metal support wire piercing the loose textile layer of a brassiere sheath.